Hopper for cigarette-packaging machines



June 1930. w. B. BRONANDER ET AL 1,7 0

HOPPER FOR CIGARETTE PACKAGING MACHINES Filed se t. 19. 192s HllPatented June 24, 1930 WILHELMiB- momma-beMomma Jesse Al-I an mia 'E-eerie;

r mporting nnw yil ilslessiemes o AMERI N MACHINE a roxmnnY c m-gIPANY,AQOBPOBATWNOFNEWJEBSEY e.

is serummime-eczema MACE-[LIES Application mease tembe; 1e, i e2s.-sera1-m.- 306,929

I This invention relates to hoppers for: cigae rette packaging machines,its principal objectsl'being to provide,'in' a hopper which feedscigarettes throughpassageways to the packaging mechanism; improved means1 for preventing the cigarettesi'romr becoming jammed .or;;misaligned-atthe entrance of the passageways; and *means vit'or =prevent= ingcigarettes 1 from 'becoming ured; or

jamming, as a result of falling toorapidly to their ejecting position inthe .lower ends of the passageways, A' hopper of thetype which thisinvention is designed'to improve, and the relation of sucha hopper tothe compacter' and other parts of the cigarette packaging machine, is'fully disclosed in Patent No. 1,608,l63, patented N ove nber 23, 19 26,to Wilhelm B. Bronander, to which referenceismade. 1 l .v

In the present I device, :-j amming or misalignment at the entrance ofthe cigarette passageways is prevented by pairs of oscillating rollers.Q'It has .been ioimd-that by oscillating the :rolle'r's; that is,rotating" them alternately in opposite directions, thesejro'llers willshake the cigarettes and -prevent them from sticking togethen'orentering fbetween the rollers two at atimeeor at an angle, as sometimeshappens with rollers -opmttescespeciallyvwhen g reae 611 endwise;

With the object 0t preventing'this'in-the present device; a fingerisprovided proj ecting into the passageways -"wh-ich fingerfis operated:to lower the cigarettesin the pas s'ageway relatively slow'lyfinsteaelor permitting then-1 to'falli: I

From the unimured and pro'perl y cigarettes which have *thus ar-rived inthe lower portions or ejecting chambers ofthe passageways, groupscontaining the desired number of cigarettes 1 are alternately ejected bytwo reciprocating {plungers push; them into the receiving chambers ota 1come-1' like parts: 1'.

pia'lcteri Such as a lisclosedthe above g 1 mentioned patent, whichperforms the :first stage'of thepackaging operation. I T

"\Vith these and otherobjects in View, the invention consists of-certainconstructions Q and combinations which willibe hereinafter forth in'the,hereuntoappended claims.

y In the accompanying drawings'which form a part of this, specificationand in whichlike characters of reference indicate the same or Fig. lxisa sectional view inlelevationof.

the improvedcigarette hopper taken on line 1Y+lof Fig.3; .f; 1 :f tEig'.12 is aside elevation 10f the hopper shown in Fig. 3; j L

Fig. 3 is; a front elevation of the improved hopper, with partsbrokenraway t ons hoivvv the agitating rollers; 1

- '.E1g.,4: is a sectional side elevation of c hopper .on line 4-4: ofFig. and

. Fig. 5-;is a sect-ionaleside elevation of :the

hopperonline 5'w5 of-Fig. 3, showing-the rollers being spaced apart-topermit passage oi only one cigarette at T a time between adj'acentrollers, and means are. provided 'for oscillatingsaid rollers toprevent.j amming or misalignment of the-,cigarettesgas' they are.

fed from the-holder.' ,In the best ,cons tr'ucr tions carrying out theinvention there. is"

provided a source of supply of cigarettes, together withga passagewayleading down; wardly LfI'QIIl'gSilld;S11pply"fi,Hd m63flilS are Sp rovid'ed col ecting. with :thepassage to lower cigarettes therein," thuspreventing injury orjammingof the cigarettes ,due...to nncon- I trolledfalling in the passageway. The. means above referred .to -;may be widelyvaried in construction Within'ithe scope of the claims,- for: theparticular machine selected to illustrate I the invention iis-g'but' oneof nany possible embodiments iof .ithe

' :An :arm 21 of this segment is connectedby a link 22'with a bellcrank. lever 23 'fixedly same. The invention, therefore, is not toberestricted to the precise details of the structure shown anddescribed. 7

In the device shown, a hopper body'lO is mounted on a base plate 11supported by stands '12, lThehopper' bodycarries a'receptacle' l3providing a source of supply of "cigarettes, whichv has aremovable frontWall-1ft and a} fixedrear wall 'l5.'-"A- hous v t v in ball bearings,knurled agitating rollers 17 extending intoand through the ,hopper ing"16 attached to, Hopper body 10 carries,

body. A; gear segment 18, mounted 0 11a shaft 19 supported in thehousing 16, rocks spur, gears 20 mounted on the rollers 17.

mounted on shaft 24. An arm of the bell crank lever 23" carries atransverse pin, 26 bywhich it is coupled to a lever 27, which islooselyrnountedon the shaft 24: and is actuated by the camoperatedrod-28. The

coupling. pin 26 is provided with a handle 29 and is held inengageinentwith the lever ,27ineans ofa spring 30. (Fig; 1).. In

caselthe hopper feeding mechanism, should 7 7 temporarily fail, or thecigarettes in the hopper should become jammed'from any other cause andrequirea quick shaking,the'

pin 26 can becreadily disengagedfrom lever 27 by: pulling handle '29,whereupon arm 25 can be actuated manually. c

; .Thefrollers 1!, supporting a: portionof the'supplyof cigarettes, are:so placed as to; form the lips of the mouths of the passage ways 8l-intowhichlthe cigarettes are vto be 7 fed. 7 Adjacentfroller's "are spacedapart to permit on'ly" onecigarette at a time to pass t between--them.infrhe: passageways 31 are formed bypartitionplates 7 32 held in 'posi-'tion by the bracket andithe stop bars 34;

andi35 fastened to'the hopper body 10. The

i upper endsof the partition plates of adjaa cent. passageways .areoined-together and fitpartlyaround-the rollers 17, A door-'36 havingattransparent front plate is hinged to thehopipenbodylOand-is keptclosed by} .latch-37-havingaspring38. The outwardly ben't plate 39mounted on top of l door '36 By opening-the door 36, 'any accidentally wmisplaced or: damaged' cigarette may be I "removed. w:1As-thel-cigarettes:are fed by the os'cillat- I ing rollers' intotheipassageways 3l,- they V guides'the cigarettes intothe hopper body;

are, in each group of passageways, arrested and supported according to'the time'in the cycle of themachineyeither by one of the ejecting plungers lO, aswhen atthe' end of its forward stroke shown in dottedlines in'l F ig; 5, or by one of the projectingfingers' 412 inxitsupposition, as when-the respective plunger is atrthe end ofiits returnstroke showniinfl full lines sin'Fig; 5. :The fingers 41 which lower t ecigarettes rollers alternately move intoithe collecting chambers formingthe lower portion of the passageways, are attached to the links 42 heldby the-parallel 7 levers 43 andt l, which are cam operated 1 e by means.of therods 45, reciprocated by suitable cam andfcam follower means. The7 fingers 41 'projectqtransversely into f the,

passageways through suitable slots '46 in I the partitions and'inftheir'f lowest} position t' o n g 'o s o s t e st p bars! When'thecigarettes inone setofp'assageways have been lowered by the respective"finger 41, a group of cigarettes arranged to; form one package beingthen positioned inr u the respective collecting chambers, one ofthe'forked plungers l0 which are mounted for reciprocation on a bracket47: held by a shaft' 48 sliding: inbearingst), traverses a set ofpassageways andejects the entire group through one of the guidecompartments 50 attached to hopper .body lO into the previouslymentioned compacter (not shown) in which it. is compacted intoapaokpreliminary toifits advance into thev'wrapping mechanism; In thepreferred-form,

in its retreat or backward movement," the plunger, having thecigarettesginthe ,pas-

sageways resting on it, stops for a moment after passing the finger41,'thus providing ampletime' for movement to cigarette supportingposition of the linger 41 while the cigarettes in the passageways arestillsup ported'by the plunger extending part way across the passageway.The plunger then completes its return stroke, clearing ,the passagewayfor the downward 'movement of theifinger, lowering the next group-of;ciga rettes intothe collecting chamber.

a camefollower connected to :the-ashaft; 48. H What isolaimedisi r 1. Inaifeed for chines, the combinationwitha holder for a supply ofcigarettes, of a plurality'of ago I STIilt-II able means for impartingthis motion. of the plunger is provided, as for', instance a;con-..

V I l o rventional cam of proper poontour operating parallel rollers onwhich a portion 'offsaid to permit passage of only one;cigarette at atime between adj acent. rollers; and means foryo'soillating saidrollers, 'wherebyHsaid cent passages,

2.; Ina? feed for cigaretteinachines, the combination with a holder fora supply of cigarettes, of, a plurality Q of' parallel rollers on whicha ,iportion ofsaid, supply rests, saidrollers being spaced apart;

torpermitpassage of only one cigarette 'Jat a time betweenadjacentvrollers, ,and'means; for; oscillating saidr'rollers,saidmeansineluding pinions on the rollers and a swing ing' gearsector inengagement WithsaidL a pinions,j whereby :said rollers alternately;

move cigarettes .to adjacent passages.- s2;

.supp'lyrests, said rollersjbeing spaced apart cigarettes to adja l J V3. In a feed for cigarette packaging machines, the combination with aholder for a supply of cigarettes, of a plurality of parallel rollers onwhich a portion of said supply rests, said rollers being spaced apart topermit passage" of only one cigarette at a time between adjacentrollers, passage- 1 ways leading from the spaces between the rollers fordirectingcigarettesto the pack aging machine in predetermined rowformation, and means for oscillatingsaid' rollers, whereby said rollersalternately move cigarettes to adj acentpassagew ays, I i

4. In a feed for cigarette packaging machines, the combination with aholder, for

a supply of cigarettes, ofqa plurality of parallel rollers on which aportion of said supply rests, said rollers being spaced apart to permitpassage of only one cigarette at a time between adjacent rollers, meansfor I oscillating said rollers, passageways leading downwardly from thespaces between the porting member projecting through an apertured wallof said passageway to en gage cigarettes therein, and parallel motionactuating mechanismfor saidmember.

6. In a feed for acigarette packaging machine, the combination with asource of supply of cigarettes, of a downwardly directed passagewayleading therefrom,

means forlowering cigarettes in sai d pas-- sageway having movement. toa position supporting the cigarettes in" the passageway,

a plunger reciprocating across said I passage-' way to. eject a group ofcigarettes therefrom, and operatingin itsretreat to support thecigarettes in the passageway during the movement to position of saidlowerin means.

. In a feed for cigarette machines, the

combination with a source of supply of cigarettes, of a passagewayleading downwardly from said supply, and means fcov acting with saidpassage to lower the cigarettes therein, said lowering means including afinger extending transversely under the cigarettes in the passage andmeans for lowering said finger including parallel link motion actuatingmechanism for said finger.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification,

WILI-IELM B. BRONANDER. GUSTAF E. HAGQUIST.

